Pearland center creates world stage for cultures
A man in a white hat twists, smiling, lilting, as a red sash wrapped around his waist slowly unravels. Across the floor, a woman in a white dress holds one end of the sash. “La Bamba” plays in the background.
The sash falls to the ground and together, the two step around it, first to the left, then to the right, their movements slow, deliberate, yet with a confidence that only comes with age.
They bend down and hold the sash up: a perfectly tied bow.
Clustered in a Pearland senior center, a crowd erupts in applause. All around, the room is packed with groups sitting around more than a dozen circular tables. Some wear sombreros.
This display of Mexican culture, accompanied by food and drink, videos and a presentation about the country, has capped off a year of multiculuralism in the Melvin Knapp Activity Center, a large, beige building just east of Texas 35 designed for “active adults” over 50.
As people move to Pearland from around the world, drawn by the Texas Medical Center or NASA or the energy industry, many have brought their parents with them. In the center, this generation is finding a creative way of embracing the city’s diversity.
Twelve months ago, this program, called “Around the World,” kicked off with a similar presentation about Mexico, Castillo said. Soon, though, people from other parts of the world were clamoring for an attempt to share part of their homelands.
Leticia Castillo, the supervisor of the Knapp center who has helped organize the events, said the program started last September with a presentation on Mexican folklorico dancing. Then came presentations on Scotland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Jamaica, South Korea, Bermuda, the United States, Ireland and Mexico.
Up next this year are presentations on the Philippines, Grenada and India, and next year presentations are scheduled on Sweden, China, Germany and Australia. All presentations are done by people who visit and use the center.
And the participants don’t stay in one spot.
An Irish man and Korean woman were among the dancers in the Mexico presentation.
“I love that it’s just not Mexicans dancing,” Castillo said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Before the dancing, Castillo takes a mic at the front of the room.
“Your flight to Mexico is leaving in three minutes,” she says.
Soon a video is projected onto a screen, with scenic clips of Mexico’s natural landscape — a mock aerial tour.
After the dancing, seniors dine on enchiladas, rice and beans and chili con queso. During the other countries’ presentations, attendees would sample other cuisines.
Maria Laurel was the dancer who helped tie the red sash into a bow. She lived in Mexico before she got married, and then moved to Pearland after her daughter got a job working as a school counselor.
Laurel said she likes learning about all the cultures, something that is uniquely Pearland. Last month, she was part of an Irish dance.
“We have people from so many different countries,” she said.
Rhee Haun, 69, lives in Pearland to be close to her son, who lives in Houston. She was thrilled when she found out about the “Around the World” program.
Several attendees at the Mexico presentation praised Haun’s South Korea presentation earlier this year.
“I never had a chance to do something like this,” Haun said. “This is the only chance for me to show something I grew up with.”
During the Mexican dancing, after they display the bow, Laurel and her partner slowly undo it.
Slowly, the man twists again, this time in the other direction as the sash once again wraps around his waist.
The Knapp center is located at 2424 South Park Ave. Contact Castillo for information at LCastillo@